


Domestic Life (Was Never Quite My Style)

by mallardeer



Series: Domestic Life [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Future Fic, hope you're not tired of Hamilton references, there are babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 03:39:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10562934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mallardeer/pseuds/mallardeer
Summary: Scenes and snippets about Kara and Lena starting a family.





	1. I’m dedicating every day to you

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a very cohesive story. I just had a bunch of different ideas of what it might look like if Kara and Lena had kids.

When their son is born, Kara stops sleeping, and not in the usual way of new parents. It takes Lena a while to realize it, how Kara’s super-powered hearing is attuned to every heartbeat, every movement of the new member of their family, because she is also not sleeping—in what she imagines is the way of most new parents. She sleeps when the baby sleeps, wakes when he wakes, and regrettably, it takes her about a month to notice that Kara is always already awake. It takes her another month to realize that Kara is almost never asleep. 

“Kara,” she says softly, early one morning, as she lifts her fussy son out of his mother’s arms, and Kara’s eyes snap open. “When was the last time you slept?” she worries, carefully settling the baby at her breast. 

“March eighth?” Kara offers with a yawn. The baby had been born on the ninth. She looks up and grins at Lena, but she looks beyond exhausted. 

“You hear him, way before I do.” 

“Yes,” Kara admits. 

“And you’re always listening.” 

“Yes,” she says again, eyes fluttering shut. 

“Kara. You need to sleep,” she insists, and Kara nods. “Come here,” she murmurs, drawing her wife into her lap. 

Kara is happy to pillow her head there, as Lena cradles the baby. “I’ve got you,” she whispers, to both of them. 

She watches to make sure Kara actually falls asleep, and she holds her son after he’s finished eating and lets him fall asleep in her arms. With the baby content, Kara’s breathing becomes deep and even. And for the first time since their son was born, Lena worries if this was the right decision. 

It had never occurred to her really, to want children. Her own childhood being what it was, her ambition for herself and the family company—she was fairly certain she wasn’t the mothering type. When she ended up falling in love with the woman who was Supergirl, she figured kids wouldn’t ever come up. Certainly, in the year that they’d been married, Kara had never even dropped a hint about starting a family. 

But then Kara’s sister and her partner had adopted a little girl, and as soon as Kara held the baby in her arms, she had melted. And god help her, Lena had fallen in love with the look on her face. Aunt Kara completely doted on the baby, and Maggie had eventually teased her about getting a child of her own, and Kara had truly looked like she’d never even considered the idea. Lena wondered if that were her fault, and if she were denying something Kara wanted. When they’d gotten home from Alex and Maggie’s that night, she’d carefully asked, “Have you thought about it? Having a child of our own?” 

Kara had looked surprised, but her eyes had immediately gone soft, and she nodded slowly. “I have,” she had said eventually. “But…in a daydream way. I don’t really think a baby would fit into our lives.” 

“If a special government agent and an NCPD detective can fit a baby into their lives, I’m sure we can work it out. If it’s something we want,” Lena had said hesitantly, not sure, still, whether or not that was what she wanted. 

Kara had looked at her, wonderingly, and gently kissed her forehead before asking, “Is it something you want, sweetheart?” 

“I don’t know,” she’d said honestly, and Kara had enfolded her into her arms. “I do know that you’re in love with your niece, and I’m in love with the look on your face when you hold her.” 

Kara had laughed and kissed her, and they’d quickly gotten distracted from the baby conversation. But the idea been planted. 

It was another year, of more than occasional discussions, of watching little Beth grow, before they both realized they did want their own child. Kara had immediately started talking of adoption, but she began to realize that she wanted to give birth. It had something to do, she was sure, with the uncertainty of her own parentage that had plagued most of her life. When she’d carefully mentioned that she’d like to try getting pregnant herself, Kara’s eyes had lit up, and she’d known that it was the right decision. 

From the second that her doctor had confirmed her pregnancy, Kara had started acting, basically, like a dazed, excited, and super attentive dad-to-be. (It was handy to be married to Supergirl when the absolute cliché of midnight cravings hit—peanut butter, pickles, mint chocolate chip ice cream all appeared in her lap as soon as she wanted them, no matter the time of night.) In one weekend, she single-handedly turned their guest bedroom into a nursery, and she spent nine months grinning, whistling, and hand-delivering lunch to Lena’s office every day. 

Which was why, toward the end of her third trimester, when she felt like something else was in control of her body and that this was quite possibly the worst decision she’d ever made, she could not bring herself to tell Kara. Kara, who told everyone she met that her wife was about to have their first child. Kara, who stayed up reading baby name books. (Lena vetoed every name that started with L.) Kara, who pressed her ear to Lena’s increasingly swollen abdomen at every opportunity, talking and singing to the small life growing within her. Those were the times when her doubts eased, but when she actually started waddling and getting looks from horrible old men—and the women who still felt like they needed to act like horrible men to succeed—at meetings, well. It was hard to remember why she’d chosen to go through this. 

Sometimes, she’d be awake at night, long after Kara had fallen asleep, agonizing over whether she’d just talked herself into this to make Kara happy. She worried she wouldn’t know how to be a mother, that she’d see the baby and feel no attachment, no affection for it. What if all the baby was to her was a nuisance? “It’s the hormones,” she’d told herself. “It’s the lack of sleep. It’s fine. It’ll be fine.” 

She’d known she really shouldn’t be keeping these feelings from Kara, but before she could figure out how to have this terrible conversation, her water had broken—at work, naturally, almost two weeks before her due date. She’d calmly asked Jess to “call Ms. Danvers please,” hoping that if Jess called, Supergirl wouldn’t show up on her balcony, because there would be no way to explain that at all. 

It had worked, and she’d had to smack Kara to keep her from carrying her out to the waiting car. Kara had been sheepish, but she was grinning all over her face, and Lena was exasperated, but she had loved the way Kara was looking at her. 

But when the actual labor had started, she had immediately turned on Kara. She was not weak or squeamish, but still she had not been prepared for the ordeal of childbirth. Kara had never flinched, never left her side, only nodded at her abuse, and let her squeeze any and all parts of her body through the contractions. “God, you really are made out of fucking steel,” she’d muttered at one point, gripping Kara’s hand as hard as she possibly could, and Kara had gotten a deer in the headlights look—but no one really listens to the ravings of a woman giving birth. 

Finally, after hours and hours, the baby had been born, and she sank bank against the bed, completely enervated. The nurses cleaned him up and then handed him to Kara, who kissed him, but settled him in Lena’s arms right away. “There he is,” she whispered. “He’s perfect.” 

Kara was crying and so happy and so radiant, and Lena carefully cradled her son, who was so small, so impossibly small, and her doubts faded into the background. 

They named him Ronan Xavier Luthor and brought him home two days later. Lena had gotten nervous again when they’d left the hospital. She’d been riding high on hormones following the birth, and bonding with Ronan in the hospital, learning to feed him, watching Kara watch her—it had all been entirely unlike she’d expected. But now they were going to have to try to get back to their real lives. 

While it hadn’t been easy at all, adjusting to the schedule of a newborn, it had still felt like her life. She didn’t feel like she was trying to a play a part she didn’t fit into. Sharing things like midnight feedings, careful bath times, early morning diaper changes, and exhausted naps on the couch with Kara had only made her feel bonded to her son and her wife in new ways. 

“I was worried,” she’d said one night, after they’d given Ronan a bath and settled him in his bassinet. 

“About what?” Kara asked, turning her head, but still keeping her eyes on the baby. 

“That I wouldn’t know…that I wouldn’t feel… I had the worst mother.” Lena had started crying, and Kara had gathered her up into her arms. 

“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me?” she asked gently. 

“You were so happy,” was all Lena could say, and Kara smiled sadly. 

“You can’t only think of me, Lena,” she insisted. 

“I knew it was just the stress of the pregnancy. I felt like…I’d lost control of my own body.” 

“And what about now?” Kara asked carefully. 

Lena snorted, a little. “Well. I suppose I still am at his mercy. But it is—it’s all… It’s worth it.” 

“Is it?” Kara asked, trying not to show her worry. 

“Yes,” she promised. 

But now Kara is not sleeping. And it’s only a matter of time before Supergirl’s lack of energy and focus causes a disaster. 

Tonight, though, Kara does sleep, content enough with the baby and her wife both near. Lena stays awake and watches them both and is amazed that Kara sleeps until her alarm goes off. “Oh,” Kara yawns, tumbling out of bed. “Good morning.” 

Ronan immediately starts fussing, so Kara carries him over to the changing table, and Lena relaxes. “I should have known you’d need to be an attached parent,” she murmurs, and Kara laughs. 

“I should have known that too. It kills me to let the little man out of my sight.” She starts humming, and Ronan stops fussing, and the world is righted for just this moment. 

She has a little less than a month left before she is supposed to return to LCorp, and as Kara returns their son to her arms so she can get ready for work, she realizes she’s not going to be able to let Ronan out of her sight either. 

Once Kara is off at Catco, and the baby is clean and fed and fast asleep, she sits down and calls Maggie. “Lena? Is everything all right?” is the greeting she receives, and she laughs, realizing this is probably the first time she’s ever called her sister-in-law. 

“Everything is fine,” she assures Maggie, who lets out an audible sigh of relief. “I…was just… Well, how did you manage to go back to work?” she blurts, and Maggie chuckles fondly. 

“Believe me, it was not easy. I made a lot of terrible excuses to be ‘in the neighborhood’ of Beth’s daycare.” 

Lena smiles and begins to feel a bit better. “Alex was worse, though. We both ended up there a lot in the first few months,” Maggie continues. 

“Well. I am leaving Ronan with Kara at least,” she sighs. 

“And you’ll be finding many, many excuses to go home for lunch,” Maggie teases. “But you’ll figure it out, Lena. I’m sure of it.” 

“Thank you,” she says quietly, and they say their goodbyes. 

Unsurprisingly, Kara comes home for lunch, dropping a kiss on her head before immediately lifting their son out of his bassinet. He stays asleep, but Lena watches his face change as he realizes he’s in his mother’s arms. And she falls in love with both of them all over again. 

The next few weeks pass too quickly, but Kara is beyond delighted for her turn to stay with the boy. And Lena really does want to get back to LCorp. 

That first Monday morning, she leaves them both asleep in bed, Ronan freshly changed and fed. She perhaps gives them both more kisses than is necessary, but it is truly difficult to leave. 

Once she steps through the front doors at LCorp, though, she feels like she's coming home. 

There's a stack of work already to be done, and her office is full of flowers—only half of them from Kara. She falls back into it like she never left, and when she looks at the clock for the first time that day, she is stunned to see that it's already half past noon. She calls to Jess to hold her calls and quickly heads for home. 

She finds Kara asleep on the couch in a white tank top and plaid boxer shorts, Ronan in just a diaper on her chest. What she wouldn't give to slip into Kara's arms with him. Instead, she carefully lifts him up, and he yawns and settles against her shoulder. Kara wakes up immediately. 

"I've got him," Lena says, and Kara turns to her with a sleepy grin. 

"Home already?" she asks, but Lena shakes her head. 

"Just for lunch." 

"Oh! I made sandwiches," Kara remembers, leaping over the couch and heading for the fridge. 

"You knew I'd be home," Lena laughs. 

"Of course I did," Kara winks, setting out the sandwiches. "I came home every day for a month straight." 

Lena smiles and sits down at the table and eats lunch with her wife with her son in her arms. And then Kara's phone rings, and they both startle. "Oh what the hell was I thinking?" Kara explodes, going for the phone. "Supergirl doesn't just work at night." 

"Lucky I came home then," Lena says lightly, but this is a huge problem. 

Kara transforms, scowling. "You're sure you're okay?" 

"Of course. Go." 

Kara kisses her and the baby, and then she is gone. "Well," Lena says, looking at her sleeping son. "Who wants to learn what Mom does for work?" 

She manages to get Ronan dressed and a diaper bag packed to return just in time for a two o'clock conference call. And Jess is actually delighted to play babysitter for the hour that takes. 

Once the call is over, she goes to retrieve her son, and she settles him in his car seat, right on her desk. "Let me know if I can help with him at all, Ms. Luthor," Jess says, hopefully. 

"Thank you, Jess," she says gratefully. "We should be okay here." 

Ronan wakes up about half an hour later, and Lena starts unbuttoning her shirt, not even thinking about where she is. She reviews the quarter's departmental budgets while she feeds him, and then keeps him in her arms afterward. "Maybe I can handle this working mother thing after all, eh, Ro?" she murmurs, kissing his impossibly soft hair. 

He sleeps for about an hour, but then he wakes up and starts screaming. "So much for that," Lena mutters, checking his diaper. 

She gets him changed and cleaned and settled in his car seat, but he's still fussing. Jess pops in, and Lena lets her watch him while she takes another call. He finally quiets, and she gets through the call without issues. "Thank you, Jess," she says taking Ronan into her arms as soon as she can. 

"My pleasure, Ms. Luthor. He's very sweet." 

"He is, isn't he? He must have learned that from my wife," she jokes, and Jess grins on her way back to he desk. 

She settles Ronan back into his seat and gets back to work, and he sleeps through the rest of the business day. He does wake up when Jess pops in to say goodnight, and Lena realizes it's already six o'clock. And then she realizes she hasn't heard from Kara. 

She feeds the baby to try to keep from panicking, and as she's burping him, Supergirl appears on the balcony. "Kara," she breathes, relieved. 

"Hi," Kara says, coming to kiss her. "How'd it go?" She drops a kiss on Ronan's head before taking the spitup cloth and lifting her son into her arms. 

"Oh fine," Lena says breezily. "And how was work for you?" 

Kara laughs. "Fine. Just some idiots with tech they shouldn't have. Sorry to come over here as Supergirl." 

"That's all right. Everyone has pretty much gone home." 

Ronan burps and coughs and spits up on Kara, and she laughs, joking about getting her cape dry cleaned. “Can I take you home?” she asks, and Lena sighs. 

They both know it could be dangerous to have Supergirl associated with Lena and the baby, but it’s been a long day, and it would be so much easier. So she says yes, and they’re home in less than five minutes, Ronan fast asleep in Kara’s arms. 

“Let’s not make a habit of this,” Lena warns, and Kara agrees. 

Kara heads off to change and then to see about dinner. Lena sets Ronan in his bassinet and joins Kara in the kitchen. “What are we going to do about Supergirl?” she asks carefully. 

“I suppose I can’t just drop him off at LCorp on my way to fight crime,” Kara sighs, and Lena smirks. 

“Not without giving everything away,” she says, and Kara bows her head. 

“What we were thinking, Lee?” she asks quietly, and Lena slides her arms around Kara’s waist. 

“We knew this would be complicated,” she reminds her wife, voice quavering. “He’s worth it. Isn’t he?” 

“Oh god, of course,” Kara says, spinning in Lena’s arms and pulling her close. “I just… We’re like two of the most targeted people in this damn city. And your brother—what if…” She closes her eyes, and Lena softly kisses her jaw. “I know we talked about this already. But I think our answer was just… We’ll deal with it?” 

Lena nods. “Yeah. We maybe let ourselves get carried away, imagining a child of our own.” 

“And we can’t just spend our lives worrying about things that might never happen. So I guess… What do we do about Ro, now that we’re both…back at work?” 

“Send him to daycare with Beth?” Lena asks, but Kara frowns. 

“He’s only three months old.” 

“Install a daycare at the DEO?” she offers, and Kara laughs, shaking her head. 

“I’ll talk to Alex tomorrow,” she decides. “We’ll figure something out.” 

“I hope so,” Lena sighs, but Kara kisses her, and she knows, somehow, that they will. They have to.


	2. You outshine the morning sun

Sundays are Kara's favorite days. They're the days when no one is allowed to work, and the three of them spend every single minute together. With Lena running LCorp and Supergirl back in action, they don’t get to see their son—or each other—enough. So they take Sundays all to themselves. 

One Sunday in early December, Kara wakes up just before Ronan does, and she leaves Lena asleep in their bed. She quickly changes the baby then carries him to the kitchen to fix a bottle. She thinks about taking him back to bed to feed him, but she decides to let Lena sleep, so she cuddles the boy on the couch while he eats, and they both fall asleep together when he's done. 

Lena wakes up with a start to an empty bed and a silent house, and panic rises in her chest. She scrambles out of bed, calling for Kara, but she goes quiet when she gets to the living room. Kara, in her red plaid pants and white thermal shirt, is fast asleep on the couch. Ronan, in matching pajamas, is fast asleep on her chest. Lena's heart feels so full it could burst. 

She decides to join them, wriggling her way under Kara's arm, and Kara sleepily kisses her forehead. "We had breakfast," she murmurs. "I could make you something." 

"Shhh," Lena says fondly, and the three of them sleep the rest of the morning away. 

Ronan wakes them up, and Lena sits up to feed him, and Kara pads into the kitchen on bare feet to make Lena a pot of coffee. Then there is bacon and eggs and fresh fruit and Ronan smearing bananas on his face while Kara laughs and merely picks the extra bits out of his hair. Though they’d picked a donor with blond hair and hazel eyes and the biggest grin, Ronan is growing up to look like Lena in miniature, and Kara could not be happier. 

“Ma, ma, ma,” he bleats, banging his mess of bananas, and Kara chortles while Lena smiles at the two of them over her mug of coffee. 

Everything is so perfect, Lena has started worrying about when the other shoe will drop. She still has a target on her back because of her last name, and Kara is still Supergirl, but everything has been quiet for months now. Even Supergirl has only been called into action for relatively normal things. It’s hard not to think that something terrible has to be coming. 

“Lena,” Kara is saying, not for the first time, and she shakes herself out of her doom and gloom thoughts. “Are you all right?” 

“Fine, fine,” she insists, going to lift Ronan out of his chair. “You are a mess,” she scolds fondly. “Bath time.” 

Kara cleans up breakfast while she cleans up the baby, and then the three of them end up on the couch, Ronan in Lena’s arms and Lena in Kara’s. “You’re worried about something,” Kara says gently. 

She sighs. “It’s…silly, but everything is so perfect. I think I’m waiting for something horrible to happen.” 

To her surprise, Kara nods and says, “Me too.” 

“We’re both too used to loss, aren’t we?” Lena says, holding Ronan close. 

“Yes,” Kara agrees. “But we both have endless resources to protect our family.” 

“And endless enemies,” Lena mutters. Marrying National City’s media darling Kara Danvers had actually done possibly more than her work with LCorp to rehabilitate Lena’s reputation, but Lex—and their mother—still have followers. 

Kara sighs and rests her chin on Lena’s head. “Well. We’ll just fight like we always do, Lee,” she says, but she sounds so tired. 

“I know,” Lena murmurs, and kisses her son. 

“You know I won’t let anything happen to him. Or you,” Kara insists, and Lena knows that Kara needs to believe that. 

“I know, sweetheart,” she promises, wanting to believe it herself.


	3. Pride is not the word I’m looking for

Lena’s been putting in long hours all week, and all is fairly quiet on the Supergirl front, so Kara has been working from home and playing with Ronan, who is just learning to walk. She sends pictures and videos to Lena all day long, hoping they don’t make her feel like she’s missing out, but wanting her to see how amazing their boy is. On Friday, when two videos of Ronan standing up, falling down, and laughing like a maniac get no response, she decides it’s time for the CEO to take a lunch break. 

She gets her son kitted out in clean pants and a tiny NCPD sweatshirt from Aunt Maggie. “Oh, you are a very handsome officer of the law,” she coos, pulling a red knit beanie over his dark hair. He grins and drools, and she laughs and settles him into the baby carrier. 

It’s warm for April, so it’s a really nice walk down to the L Corp tower, and Ronan loves watching the cars and buses and bikes roll by. “Ma, ma, ma,” he says, throwing his head back into her chest. 

“Careful, buddy,” she says, cushioning the blow just in time, but Ronan just laughs and kicks his legs out. 

When they get to L Corp, they find Jess outside Lena’s office looking harried, and her face just falls when she sees Kara and Ronan. “Oh, Ms. Danvers. She, um…” She purses her lips. 

“Don’t worry, Jess. I brought backup,” she says, waving Ronan’s chubby fist. 

Jess cracks a reluctant smile. “This has been a long week, Ms. Danvers.” 

“It has, hasn’t it? I’ll show myself in. You stay out of the way,” she advises, and Jess just nods. 

“Ma, ma, ma!” Ronan says, as soon as Kara opens the door. 

Lena is hunched over her desk, head in her hands, but when she hears her son’s voice, her body relaxes, and she looks up with a soft smile. “Ronan,” she says, shaking her head. 

“Ma!” the baby calls, and Kara plops him on Lena’s desk, carefully sliding the papers and her laptop out of the way. 

“Hello, you,” she says, kissing his face. “And hello, you,” she says, as Kara drops a kiss on her head. 

“Hi! I sent you two of the best Ronan Luthor videos of all time, and you did not send a peep back,” she pretends to scold. 

“I know,” she sighs, smiling as Ronan grabs onto her fingers. “It has not been the best week in L Corp’s history.” 

“But it has also not been the worst,” Kara reminds her, with a winning smile, and she laughs in spite of herself. “Ronan decided you needed a break. Come out to lunch with us.” 

Lena is about to resist, but Ronan looks so very cute in his little hoodie and knit hat, even cuter than his mother, who is also wearing a hoodie and a knit hat, and Lena laughs when she realizes that her wife and son match. “You two are very darling,” she says, pushing herself away from the desk. She catches Ronan up in her arms, and he laughs and bumps her chin with his head. 

“Careful. He’s very into whacking things with his head today,” Kara cautions, but at least she knows that Ronan won’t hurt himself on Lena. 

“Ah, he’s got an appetite for destruction, just like his mother,” she says, winking at Kara, who is holding her coat open for her. 

“Hey! It has been a long time since I destroyed anything,” Kara says indignantly, and Lena kisses her, and all is instantly forgiven. 

She settles Ronan back into the sling across Kara’s torso and then lets her wife help into her coat, deciding to set the weight of her business down for an hour. They walk around the block to Kara’s favorite taco place, where they sit outside and bask in the early spring sun. Ronan sits in Lena’s lap and smears rice all over his face and head, and Lena is sure she’ll be picking it out of his clothes tonight, but he is so happy. 

“What’s the big deal this week, Lee?” Kara asks gently, flicking another grain of rice across the table to make Ronan laugh. 

“Oh, just a product that’s not going to make its launch date,” Lena says, trying not to feel discouraged. It had been a pet project of hers, but it had not been as easy to mass manufacture as originally thought. “I have a couple of deals riding on it, and investors clamoring, and well…” She shakes her head, loathe to discuss business when she’s with her family. “Anyway, it’s just been a huge fiasco, and I would much rather be watching Ronan fall down and laugh his head off.” 

“In person?” Kara suggests, and Lena sighs. 

“Of course in person. But I still have to try to turn this around before the week ends.” 

“I know,” Kara says, and her voice is all understanding and empathy, and Lena once again wonders what she could have done to deserve her. “I just hated thinking of you up in that tower, all alone.” 

“Thank you for rescuing me,” Lena says, and Kara laughs, and Ronan throws his head back into her chest, delighted with the mess he’s made on the table. “Careful, Ro,” she murmurs, smoothing his hair, which now has rice in it, of course. 

“Come on, you little mess-man,” Kara says, plucking him out of her lap. “We’ve gotta get Mom back to work.” She buckles him into the carrier, and he kicks his legs and babbles away, still chomping on a sticky handful of rice. 

“What a disaster you are, Ronan Xavier,” Lena says, sweeping the rice off the table into a napkin while Kara collects their trash, and he just throws his head back again. 

Kara catches it carefully, preventing him from slamming into her chest, and Lena looks up at her worriedly. “I told you that’s his new thing. Don’t worry. I got him.” 

They walk back to L Corp together, Lena’s arm hooked through Kara’s, as Ronan chatters nonstop. Lena leaves them in the lobby with kisses, and Kara reminds her not to stay too late. 

Unfortunately, she stays much too late. There’s a last-minute break in her stalled negotiations, and she spends hours moving everything into place. It is well past Ronan’s bedtime—and Kara’s—by the time she gets home. But she’s prevented disaster for her company, and so she can’t quite regret the time spent away from her family. 

When she finds Kara asleep on the couch and Ronan asleep on her chest, one little fist clutching her shirt, that lack of regret starts to waver. She’s barely seen them all week, and she hates missing these sweet moments. Part of her wants to leave them like this, but a bigger part of her wants to feel Kara’s arms around her, wants to be able to tell her how she solved the crisis. But she watches the two dearest people in the world sleep together for just a little longer. 

Eventually, she carefully lifts Ronan into her arms, and Kara wakes up immediately. “I’ve got him,” she soothes, and Kara relaxes, grinning sleepily up at her. 

Ronan doesn’t wake, but snuggles into her shoulder, and she revels in the closeness of her small son. “It’s late, huh?” Kara yawns, sitting up. 

“Very late. But I averted the catastrophe,” she reports, and Kara’s eyes light up. 

“Knew you could, Lee,” she says proudly, and Lena’s heart swells. 

“You’re not…mad?” she asks hesitantly, and Kara’s eyes go wide, as if the idea never occurred to her. 

“God, no, Lena. How many times have I had to disappear in the middle of the night? We’re doing our best, aren’t we?” 

Lena nods, absently smoothing Ronan’s fluff of hair. “I just felt like I was barely home this week.” 

“I have those weeks too,” Kara reminds her. “Come on, let’s put the boy to bed, and I’ll make you dinner.” 

Once Ronan is safely asleep in his crib, Lena goes to change, and Kara goes whistling to the kitchen. In barely any time at all, she’s placed a bowl of rice, vegetables, and chicken in front of Lena. It smells wonderful, and her body finally realizes how long it’s been since lunch. 

“You’re amazing,” she sighs, leaning against her wife. 

“I’m all right,” Kara laughs, and kisses her head. “I have three of your shows ready on the DVR, if you want.” 

“Well, at least one would be good,” Lena decides, taking her dinner and following Kara into the living room. 

Halfway through her one episode, she stretches out and puts her head in Kara’s lap, so relieved, so grateful to be home. Kara absently strokes her hair, and before she even realizes how tired she is, she has fallen asleep.


	4. I'll make the world safe and sound for you

Ronan is three the first time he wakes up in the middle of the night, pads to his mothers’ room, and discovers Kara is not there. He crawls into bed beside Lena and shakes her awake. “What’s the matter, Ro?” she yawns, sitting up so he can climb into her lap. 

“Where’s Mama?” he demands, and Lena’s heart falls. 

“Oh, she had to—” 

“Right here, Ro,” comes a voice from the doorway, and Kara is there, in her pajamas and all. “Just in the bathroom.” 

He frowns, but accepts the excuse and holds his arms up for Kara to pick him up. “I missed you,” he says, and Kara smiles gently. 

“I’m right here, boy,” she promises, and carries him back to bed. 

“That was lucky timing,” Lena remarks when she returns, and Kara sighs. 

“What were you going to tell him?” she asks, and Lena shakes her head. 

“You know, I don’t even know. It doesn’t make sense to tell him you’re at work at two a.m.” 

“No. Well. Is it time for Supergirl to retire?” 

“Oh, Kara… You couldn’t…” 

“That’s what I thought, but… I would do anything for him.” 

“So keep the city safe for him,” Lena says, and Kara crumples. 

“I don’t want him to—I want to be here, whenever he needs me.” 

“You are, Kara,” Lena reassures her. “Come here.” 

Kara burrows into her arms, and Lena kisses her head, which smells like cold air and car exhaust—like night in National City. “You haven’t once missed his bedtime in three years. I’m the one who has.” 

“Oh, but—” 

“I know, I know. I’m not feeling guilty for needing to leave my son at home every once in a while. So don’t you feel like you’re ever letting him down.” 

“Okay,” Kara says, but her voice is small, and it tugs at Lena’s heart. 

“We’ve been doing okay, so far, haven’t we?” she worries, and Kara nods. 

“Yeah. Yeah, we have. And we’ve been lucky.” 

“Very lucky,” Lena agrees.


	5. I'll do whatever it takes

Ronan is five when he first realizes that Supergirl looks a little…familiar. He and Lena are out to breakfast, just them, and he sees Supergirl on the TV above the counter. “Supergirl looks like Mama,” he says innocently, and Lena smiles to cover her shock. Although she really should be surprised it’s taken him this long to realize it. Ronan sees Kara with her hair down, without her glasses all the time at home. 

“Do you think so?” she asks him, and he nods, chomping on his waffle. 

“Do you know Supergirl, Mom?” he asks. 

“I have met her, yes,” Lena says carefully. 

“Does Mama know her?” 

“She does.” 

Ronan chews his food thoughtfully, and Lena waits calmly for his next question. “I’d like to meet her,” is what he eventually says. 

“I hope you don’t ever have to, Ro,” she say softly, and he frowns. 

“Why?” he demands. “Everyone likes Supergirl. And she can fly.” 

“Usually, the only reason people meet Supergirl is because they’re in trouble,” Lena says gently, and Ronan’s face falls. 

“Oh,” he says quietly. “But if I were in trouble, she would save me, right? So it would be okay!” He grins, like he just solved a difficult puzzle, and Lena smiles fondly at him. 

“She certainly would save you, Ronan,” Lena promises, and she kisses his head. 

When they’re finished with breakfast, Lena buttons up his bright blue pea coat and takes him to Catco. “Uncle James!” he calls, scrambling out of Lena’s arms as soon as they get upstairs. 

“Well, well, look who’s here!” James says, delighted, and he lifts Ronan into his arms, tosses him in the air, and catches him again. “Hello, Mr. Ronan.” 

“Hi, Uncle James. Mom and I went out to breakfast, and then I wanted to see Mama,” he informs James very seriously. 

James grins and nods and leans over to kiss Lena hello. “Well, why don’t you and your mom come into my office, and I’ll see where your mama may have gotten to.” 

He carries Ronan into his office and sets him at his desk. Supergirl appears on one of the televisions, and Ronan’s face lights up. “Uncle James, did you know Mama looks like Supergirl?” he asks, and James glances at Lena, eyes wide. 

She shrugs. “Do you think so?” James asks Ronan, and he nods eagerly. 

“Do you know Supergirl, Uncle James?” 

“We’ve met,” James says, and Ronan’s face just falls. 

“Does everyone know Supergirl?” he asks Lena pleadingly. “Everyone but me?” 

“No, sweetheart,” Lena says gently. “But Uncle James and Mama sometimes have to ask Supergirl questions for the news.” 

“Oh,” Ronan says and nods. 

It’s then that Kara comes into the office, with a big grin and open arms for her boy, and Ronan barrels into her. Lena watches her soften her stance and let him knock her over, and she shakes her head, but she is laughing. Kara is up on her feet in a flash, tossing him into the air, and he giggles delightedly. “Mama!” he shrieks, and clutches her. 

“Hello, you little troublemaker,” Kara says, and plants kisses all over his face. “Mmm, you taste like syrup.” 

“I had a waffle,” he tells her happily. “Mama, did you know you look like Supergirl?” 

“I did,” Kara says without missing a beat, and Lena and James frown at each other behind her back. “A few people have even thought that I was Supergirl. Pretty silly, huh?” 

“Yeah, that is silly,” Ronan laughs. “Mom said that you know her.” 

“I do, actually. She helps Aunt Alex with her work sometimes.” 

“Aunt Alex knows her? And Aunt Maggie?” Ronan worries, and Kara looks at Lena. 

“Ronan is starting to feel left out, now that he’s learning his whole family knows Supergirl,” Lena says, and Kara’s eyes go wide. “I told him it’s lucky he’s not met Supergirl, because it means he’s never been in trouble.” 

“That’s true, Ro,” Kara tells him. “Anyway, you have me and Mom and Uncle James and your whole family. What do you need Supergirl for?” 

“She can fly,” he offers. “And she’s really strong.” 

“Oh yeah? Is she stronger than me?” Kara asks playfully, flexing her bicep, and Ronan laughs and snuggles into her neck. 

Lena’s heart can’t take this sweetness, and she turns away. James puts an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, Danvers. Why don’t you get out of here for the day?” he suggests. “Spend some time with your boy, huh?” 

“Well, if you insist, boss,” Kara says, and Ronan yells with glee. He reaches out a hand to Lena, and she hugs him and Kara. 

They say goodbye to James, and Kara picks up her things, and the three of them walk home, Ronan between his mothers, holding onto their hands. “Swing!” he insists, and they easily lift him and swing him forward on the sidewalk. He laughs, so happy, and Kara and Lena smile at each other over his head. 

The next time they swing him forward, he slips out of their grasp and scampers forehead. “Ronan!” Kara calls, laughing, but then he’s at an intersection with clearly no intention of stopping for traffic. 

Time seems to slow down as Lena can only watch her son head right toward an oncoming delivery van, still laughing delightedly, and it’s only Kara’s lightning reflexes that prevent a tragedy. Faster than anyone has a right to be, she appears in front of him, grabbing onto his arms as the van blares its horn and slams to a stop, just inches away from hitting her. 

The whole intersection explodes with noise, and Lena feels like she could faint. She manages to run over to where Kara is crouched in front of Ronan, eyes closed, still braced for impact. “Mama?” Ronan asks, and then begins to cry. 

“It’s okay, Ro,” she says softly, hugging him close. Then she picks him up and hands him to Lena. Ronan wraps his arms around her neck, and she clutches him to her. 

“Are you all right?” several concerned bystanders are asking. 

The van driver has hopped out and is chewing Kara out. “You gotta watch your kid, lady!” Lena hears him say. 

“We’re all right,” Lena says, a couple times to the people who ask, and traffic resumes, and the city gets back to its routine. 

Ronan is whimpering in her arms, and Lena is smoothing his hair and whispering that he’s all right, but her heart is hammering. “Hey, Ro,” Kara says softly. “How’d you like to meet Supergirl?” 

The little boy’s eyes light up, and he nods, still clinging to Lena’s neck. “Wait here, okay?” Kara kisses him and then turns the corner and ducks into an alley. 

When she returns, his eyes go wide, and then he hides his face in Lena’s hair, suddenly shy. Kara smiles. “Hey, Ronan. Your mama told me you might need my help.” 

He peeks out from behind Lena and nods once. “Come on. I’m going to take you and your mom home, okay?” 

“Okay,” he says quietly, and Lena shakes her head, but lets Kara carry them home. 

Ronan, who she expects to be thrilled to be flying, stays silent and keeps his face in her neck and his arms so tightly around her that she starts to get uncomfortable. But they’re home soon enough, Kara setting them both down in the lobby of their building. “Where’s Mama?” Ronan asks suddenly, twisting around. 

“She just had to talk a few people,” Kara says. “I’m sure she’ll be home soon.” 

Ronan nods, and Lena gently tries to loosen his stranglehold on her. “Thank you, Supergirl,” Lena says, and Ronan chimes in with his thanks, before hiding his face in Lena’s neck again. 

“I’ll make sure your mama comes right home to you, okay?” she says, smoothing Ronan’s dark hair, and he nods. 

“Ms. Luthor,” Supergirl says, taking her leave, and Lena sighs and carries Ronan into the elevator. 

“Is Mama okay? Did the truck hit her? Why isn’t she here?” Ronan asks, his voice going high with panic. 

“Mama is just fine, sweetheart,” Lena says, and kisses him gently. “She’ll be here soon.” 

“Hey! Hold the elevator!” comes Kara’s voice, and Ronan launches himself out of Lena’s arms and runs to her. 

“Mama, mama, mama,” he says and begins to cry. 

“Oh, hey. Ronan,” Kara murmurs, scooping him up. “Everything’s okay.” She joins Lena in the elevator and kisses her quickly. 

For the rest of the day, neither of them leave Ronan alone for a single second. He’s only five, and he’s only known absolute security, so after sleeping in Lena’s lap for an hour, he wakes up perfectly happy. And he is thrilled to have his parents all to himself for the whole day. 

Once Kara has read him to sleep, she joins Lena in the living room and pulls her wife into her lap on the couch. Lena smirks but leans in to kiss her. “Are you okay?” Kara asks, and Lena feels her heart in her throat. 

“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “That was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. What if you hadn’t been there? I couldn’t have—” 

“No, no, no,” Kara interrupts gently. “You can’t go down that road, Lee.” 

“Okay,” Lena says quietly. 

“What did I tell you? I will never let anything happen to him,” Kara says, and Lena closes her eyes, and lets herself believe it.


	6. When you came into the world, you cried

Ronan is six when his little sister is born, on a cold day at the beginning of December. He’s been staying with his aunts for two days, and he is impatient to get back to his mothers. As soon as Kara walks in the door, he scrambles up into her arms. “Here’s my guy!” Kara grins, kissing him, and then she is swarmed by Beth and the twins (Robby and Gabe, who are four). 

Alex and Maggie come to pry the children off of Kara, though she’s walking into the living room, carrying all of them easily. “I missed you,” Ronan says, frowning, but she tickles him, and he giggles and kisses her. 

“How’s the baby? How’s Lena?” her anxious sisters are asking, and Kara just beams. 

“They’re perfect,” she says, eyes getting misty, and Alex and Maggie laugh fondly. 

“Well go. Take your son home,” Alex says. “We’ll be over whenever you think you can handle us.” 

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Kara promises, and Maggie hands her a bag of Ronan’s things. “Ready to meet your sister, Ro?” she asks, and he nods. 

Kara has installed Lena in her favorite chair in the living room, and she and the baby have both fallen asleep by the time Ronan and Kara get home. “Shhh,” Kara whispers, setting him on the floor, and he nods and tiptoes over to the chair. “This is your sister, Aislin,” she says, as he peers into Lena’s arms. 

Lena wakes up and smiles at him. “Come here, Ro,” she says, and he climbs into the chair beside her. “Say hello to your sister.” 

“Hello,” he says, cocking his head. “She’s very small. Does she have hair?” 

Kara laughs and ruffles his hair. “She does, a bunch of dark hair just like you and Mom, under that little hat.” 

“Is she cold?” he asks, fixating on the tiny yellow hat his sister wears. 

“It’s very important for her to stay warm,” Lena says, nodding. 

“What does she do?” Ronan asks. “I don’t think I can play with her.” 

Kara is dying trying to hold in her laughter, and thank god for Lena, who always manages to take him seriously. “Not yet,” she says patiently. “For now, she’s mostly going to sleep. But in a little while, she’ll be able to play with you.” 

“Okay,” Ronan says agreeably, and headbutts her arm until she makes room for him to snuggle into her lap too. “I missed you,” he tells her, and she kisses his head. 

“I missed you too, Ronan,” she says softly. 

Kara carefully takes the baby from her arms, and she hugs Ronan tight. He tucks his head under her chin and closes his eyes, and Kara leaves them to each other for a little while.


	7. My father wasn’t around; I swear that I’ll be around for you

Ronan is seven the first time he asks Lena where her family is. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, swinging his too-short legs from the end of the chair as she looks over his homework. “Right here,” she says, stalling, smiling at him and Aislin, asleep in her carseat beside her. 

“Nooooo,” Ronan protests. “Like your parents, where are your parents? Do have a sister? Or a brother? I only know Mama’s family.” 

Lena sighs. Of course she never wanted to lie to Ronan, but… “Well, that’s because Mama’s family is the family that we like,” she says, and then cringes. 

Ronan just blinks at her. “You get to pick which family you like?!” he exclaims. 

Lena tries again. “That is…my family is not…very nice. Well, my mom died when I was very young—younger than you are, even. And my dad died when I was a teenager. My…stepmother was not very kind to me.” 

“You had a wicked stepmother?” Ronan blurts, looking delighted. He and Beth have been working their way through the Danverses’ collection of animated classics. They had just watched Cinderella. 

It’s all Lena can do to keep from laughing. Yes, she did have a wicked stepmother, didn’t she? “Well. I suppose I did, Ronan. I had an older brother, and she… He was her favorite.” 

“You have a brother? Where is he?” he asks excitedly. He loves Aunt Alex and Aunt Maggie, Uncle Clark and Aunt Lois, Uncle James, Uncle Winn—the more family, the better. 

“Oh, Ro,” Lena murmurs, and Ronan’s face falls. “My brother… He was the best big brother I could have asked for, at first. When my mother died, I had to go live with my father in a strange house, with a strange family, and Lex took care of me. But he grew up, and he…started doing bad things. He’s in jail now.” 

Ronan’s eyebrows shoot into his bangs. “Your brother is in jail?” This is the worst thing his young mind can conceive of. 

Lena nods seriously. “He’s not a very nice man, Ronan. I’m sorry.” 

“What kind of bad things did he do?” Ronan asks, too eagerly, and Lena shuts him down. 

“The kind of bad things I can’t talk about with you yet,” she says gently. He starts to protest, but she holds up her hand. “I will tell you when you’re older, and you can understand better, okay? He wanted to do things that would hurt people.” 

“That is bad,” Ronan agrees, and he clambers down from his chair to hug her. “I’m sorry, Mom.” 

“For what, sweetheart?” Lena asks, smoothing his rumpled hair. 

“For asking about your family.” His voice is small, like he thinks he’s upset her, and she gathers him into her lap. 

“Ronan, you can always ask me anything. I promise to be as honest with you as I can.” He’s too young for her to tell him Uncle Lex once tried to have her killed, but she won’t keep him in the dark always. If he’s going to grow up a Luthor, he will have to know his family’s past. 

But not today. 

He rests his head against her neck, and she kisses his forehead. “So, you see, I wasn’t lying when I said my family was right here,” she whispers, and he smiles.


	8. I’ll do whatever it takes; I’ll make a million mistakes

Ronan is twelve the first night Kara isn't there to put Aislin to bed--he is of course too old to be put to bed, but all his life, Kara has been there every day to say goodnight to. Puzzled, he goes to his sister's room, where Lena is reading to her and hangs in the doorway for a minute before they notice him. "Ro!" Aislin calls, stretching her arms out to him, and he goes and sits with her for the rest of the story. 

Aislin accepts Lena's kiss goodnight and doesn't seem bothered at all that Kara isn't there, but Lena knows right away that Ronan is not in his sister's room to say goodnight to her. He dutifully kisses his sister and then follows his mother back down to the kitchen before asking, so casually, "Is Mom working late?" 

Kara has never not been home when the kids are getting ready for bed, and Lena is amazed she'd been able to do that until now. And she knows whatever Supergirl is doing right now has got to be important, but it is still crushing to hear the badly disguised worry in her son's voice. 

"She is. Something came up at the last minute," Lena lies, and Ronan nods. 

"Right," he says, and he seems so unsure of what to do. "Usually you're the one who has to work late," he continues. 

"I know." Lena wants badly to gather her son into her arms, but at twelve, he has become rather prickly. So she just sits with him at the kitchen counter. 

"What do you do when you work late?" he asks. 

"Usually conference calls with people in other parts of the world. Sometimes I have to go to fancy parties, for fundraising and things like that." 

"And Mom doesn't want to go with you?" he asks. 

"God no," she laughs, so he laughs too. "She'd much rather be home with you guys. You know, we both work so much that we decided, before we had you, that one of us would always be home with you at night, no matter what." 

Ronan sighs and lets his head drop to her shoulder. "I'm glad you're here," he says quietly, and tears sting her eyes. 

If Kara gets herself killed tonight, she's going to murder her. 

But Kara comes waltzing into the house at 8:30, with a grin and a gentle headlock for Ronan and a quick kiss for Lena, before bounding upstairs to say goodnight to Aislin. When she comes back downstairs, she asks her wife and her son who wants ice cream, and Ronan’s troubled look easily melts away. 

“Kara,” Lena tries to scold, but there are already three bowls of ice cream on the counter, two of them absolutely heaped with whipped cream and sprinkles. 

“Don’t worry, yours is boring frozen yogurt, Lee,” Kara teases, handing Ronan a spoon. 

“Thanks, Mom!” 

“He’s going to be up all night, Kara,” Lena sighs, because someone has to at least pretend to be the responsible parent. Truth be told, she’s immensely happy to see Ronan looking carefree again, and if it takes a sugar rush on a school night to do it, it’s worth it. 

“I’ll take care of it,” Kara promises, kissing the side of her head. “All right, we have time for one episode of TV, and then bed,” she says, leading their son into the living room. 

Lena thinks about following, but lets Kara have this time alone with Ronan. Instead, she sits at the counter with her perfectly adequate bowl of frozen yogurt and goes over some LCorp reports for the morning’s meeting on her tablet. 

Ronan is buzzing by the time he and Kara return to the kitchen with their empty bowls, and the kiss goodnight he gives her is rather sticky, but she holds back any reprimands. All she wants, all she really wants, is for her children to have the kind of childhood she never could have imagined for herself. 

Kara kisses him and sends him up to bed before washing up the dishes. “Always working, Ms. Luthor?” she tsks, reading over Lena’s shoulder. 

She sets down the tablet and leans over to kiss her wife, taking Kara by surprise. “Thank you, for being such a wonderful mother,” she whispers, and Kara blushes. 

“Well, thank you for such wonderful children,” she returns. 


	9. Someday, someday; you'll blow us all away

Ronan is fourteen when he realizes that though Kara is almost always home when he and Aislin are getting ready for bed, she sometimes isn't home when he wakes up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He can’t quite figure out how he knows, but the room across the hall always feels different when both of his parents are there. And she is always home in the morning, making coffee for Lena and pouring cereal for him and Aislin, so he doesn't worry too much. But he wonders. 

Then one night, he comes out of the bathroom, and he hears Lena crying, and his blood goes cold. He's old enough to know that a lot of marriages aren't happy, that parents keep things from their kids, but he's always been sure his mothers loved each other. And he has always known that they love him and Aislin. But Kara disappears at night, and Lena is crying, and now he is scared. 

The next morning is Saturday, and when he stumbles sleepily downstairs, Kara is making pancakes for a delighted Aislin. She looks bright and happy as always, and Lena is at the table reading on her tablet, glasses perched on her nose, and she smiles at him when he walks in. 

They eat a pleasant breakfast together, Aislin babbling happily away about her favorite cartoon. He helps Lena clean up, watching to see if she's still upset, but she seems fine. She asks if anything is bothering him, but he quickly shakes his head. 

"Mom?" he says, going to Kara, who is sitting on the living room floor with Aislin, several coloring books spread out in front of them. "Can I talk to you?" 

"Sure, Ro, what's up?" Kara says easily, smiling up at him. 

"Uh..." he stammers, but Kara catches on quickly. "Ash, why don't you go help Mom in the kitchen for me? Okay? Then we'll color." 

"Okay," Aislin sighs and trudges obediently into the kitchen. 

"What's up, Ro?" Kara asks, sitting with him on the couch. 

"Where do you go? In the middle of the night?" he asks, expecting his world to come crashing down. But he can't stop thinking about overhearing his mom crying alone in her room. 

"Oh," Kara says softly. "Oh boy. Ronan, I've been keeping a pretty big secret from you," she says slowly, and his heart falls into his stomach. "I'm sorry about that, but I want you to know I did it to keep you and your sister safe. Now she's too young to know about this, so I need you to promise, this stays between us, okay? And Mom," she adds. 

"Mom knows?" he asks, confused, and she nods. "Okay," he agrees uncertainly. "I promise." 

So Kara unbuttons her shirt to display the shield, and Ronan's jaw drops. "Are you serious?" is all he can say, and Kara nods. 

"When you were five you told me I looked like Supergirl," she tells him, and he laughs in disbelief. 

"I remember Supergirl took us home that time, when we almost got hit by a car." He stares at her like he's never seen her. "It was you, the whole time?" 

"It was me. It can be dangerous to be friends with Supergirl. I didn't want anyone to be able to connect you and your sister with me." 

"You're Supergirl," he says slowly, "and you still managed to be home to put me to bed every night?" 

She smiles. "It was a...rule I made for myself before your mom and I decided to have you. If I was going to be a parent, I was going to have to set some boundaries. If I missed one bedtime, it would be easier to miss a second and then a third, and then, well... I might never have been around." 

"Oh." Ronan doesn't know what to say. This is all a lot to deal with. But at least his parents aren't fighting. "There was one night, when I was twelve. Mom had to put Aislin to bed without you." 

"I remember. That was a pretty bad night for Supergirl." 

"That's all I get?" he asks, laughingly indignant. 

"That's all you get. I still need to protect you." 

"Aw, Mom, I'm not a kid." 

"I know that, Ronan. And that's why I'm telling you my secret. But I am your mother and Supergirl. So I am never going to stop trying to protect you." 

"Gross," he mutters, but he flings his arms around her neck in a quick hug. 

And when Aislin comes back, ready to color, he stays and colors with her. 

After lunch, he leaves for soccer practice, and Kara watches him sprint to meet his friends on the curb and thinks about how young he still is. And her heart aches. She wonders if she's made the target on his back bigger now, that he's a Luthor and knows he's a Super. 

Ronan calls later that evening for permission to stay at a friend's house, which Lena gives happily. Kara, cheerful but subdued, makes dinner for her and Aislin, and afterwards, the three of them cuddle on the couch and let Aislin pick out a movie. She falls asleep halfway through The Lion King with her head in Lena's lap, and Kara carries her up to bed at the end of the movie. 

When she comes back downstairs, Lena is in the armchair in her glasses, reading what she's sure are LCorp reports even though work is banned on the weekend. "I told Ronan," she says from the doorway. 

"Told him what?" Lena asks absently before looking up. Then she meets Kara's eyes, and her own go wide. "Kara! Why?" 

"He asked where I go in the middle of the night." 

Lena sighs and sets down her tablet. "I know we shouldn't lie to him, but he's still a child. I just..." 

"I know. But we’ve made it work so far.” 

“Aren’t you worried at all?” 

“Of course I am. But I’d rather him know the truth than stumble into something dangerous or upsetting by accident.” 

“God. I hate when you’re right,” Lena says, shaking her head, and Kara laughs. 

“He’s gonna be okay, Lee. He’s a smart kid.” 

“He is,” Lena agrees. “And what about Aislin?” 

“Oh, no, I’m never telling her. She’s going to put on a cape and jump out of a tree as soon as she finds out,” Kara says, shaking her head, and Lena laughs, but then thinks that might not be far from the mark. Aislin has always been...rambunctious. 

“Well, we can worry about that later,” she says, and Kara winks at her. 

“Much later,” she agrees.


End file.
